


You need to be able to love yourself

by klpkt



Category: Cosmere - Brandon Sanderson, Stormlight Archive - Brandon Sanderson
Genre: F/F, Kinda?, Selfcest, look i saw a tumblr post and had a Thought and, this happened
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:48:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24115291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/klpkt/pseuds/klpkt
Summary: Veil runs into an...interesting conversation about her love life.
Relationships: Shallan Davar/Veil (Stormlight Archive)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 28





	You need to be able to love yourself

**Author's Note:**

> Song title from Charlie McDonnell. Kind of. Really it's just a statement but I said it in the tune of his song so I'm counting it (especially since the alternative was Justin Bieber)

Shallan hurried down the street, barely avoiding several collisions with marketgoers just trying to go about their day without being run down by a stressed Radiant. Nearing the tavern of her destination, she slipped into an alley, stopping for a second to catch her breath. Need to look composed for the meeting, of course.

Drawing on the Stormlight of the spheres in her pouch, she conjured up her illusion: dark eyes, angular features, and an older-looking face that showed a longer and much less sheltered life than Shallan had led. It only took a moment of readjusting to slip into the corresponding personality, and less than a minute after she had entered the alley, Veil left it in a confident stride.

As she went inside the tavern, she reflected on what excuse to make for her lateness; being their superior she needn’t necessarily say anything but she felt it rude to play the “don’t ask questions” card too often, and the truth, losing track of time while on a date with Adolin, was obviously out of the question. Ah well, she’d improvise something when it came to it.

The meeting room at the back of the tavern was small, only barely room for a table and five chairs, all but one occupied as she entered. Her crew were in the middle of a lively conversation, but stopped in a moment when they saw Veil, and she cursed herself for not thinking to stop by the door and listen in, what if she missed some important gossip?

“Oh, you’re here,” Gaz said after a silence that stretched a few awkward seconds too long, the embarrassment in his voice sealing her judgment that they’d been talking about her. Even more reason to have a good excuse for them, if they were this engaged in discussing her lateness, they might start tailing her and spot her change, and her whole identity cover would be blown. _Quick, what’s the most boring reason to be late?_

“Sorry I’m late, got held up by Shallan. She can be such an ass sometimes, didn’t even remember I had somewhere to be.” That got a stifled giggle out of Ishnah, and Veil frowned. Was she laying it on too thick with the authority-bashing?

“Yeah, I’m sure she was _riding_ you hard, huh?” Gaz asked with a wink, making her frown even more in confusion. What in the Halls was that supposed to mean? She looked around at the others, all wearing barely concealed smirks, and sat down hard in the open chair.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, come on, you don’t have to hide it,” he laughed, “we’re all friends here. Well, friendly colleagues, but that counts for the same.”

“No, seriously.” She was starting to get agitated now. Social cues weren’t always easy for her, but this seemed completely out of left field, he was clearly implying _something_ but what it could be was lost on her. “What are you saying?”

“Look, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” Red piped up, “she’s an attractive woman. And you don’t need to worry about us judging you, my friend Dru has a boyfriend and it’s not like we would treat him any different for it.” Okay, now she was completely disoriented. What could this Dru possibly have to do with Veil being late for the meeting?

Vathah seemed to sense her distress, and at last shushed their teasing. (Storms, they were teasing her and she didn’t even know what it was about!) “Don’t worry, Veil, we won’t tell anyone. We’re just happy for you two, is all.”

“Happy for us?” she questioned, a hopeful tone in her voice that he might finally tell her what this whole conversation had been about.

“Yeah,” he replied, “I mean you’ll have to be wary of that fiancé of hers, but who wouldn’t be happy to be courting a Radiant?”

Courting a Radiant? They thought she was dating– herself? Oh, storms, this was going to be a rough time…

**Author's Note:**

> I saw this tumblr post https://herondalejames.tumblr.com/post/616572507802271745/hot-take-because-i-love-her and I had the thought "well Shallan with her multiple identities could in fact do both" and then I started considering the crew shipping the two of them, and then that thought process spiraled into..this


End file.
